Enterprise desktop management is one of the most challenging tasks for Information Technology (IT) departments of large organizations today. A typical IT department needs to manage large numbers of user devices, which can be spread over wide geographies and contain a diversity of software applications and operating systems. In turn, the IT department needs to be able to carry out various tasks on the client devices, such as performing back-ups, delivering upgrades, restoring devices, migrating users between computing devices, and fixing bugs or problems; quickly, efficiently, and with minimal interruption to users of the client devices on the network. Increasing complexity of software programs, frequent software updates, and limited resources compounds these difficulties.
Software updates create particular challenges for IT departments. For example, software applications and operating systems on client devices may be frequently updated, such as weekly or even daily. The updates may be initiated automatically via the internet or by the user of the client device without knowledge of the IT department. As a result, when the IT department performs operations on a client device, it may not have packages available for all of the most recent versions of applications and operating systems that may be present on the client device. Consequently, several problems may occur as a result of an older version of an application or operating system being applied on a client device, such as installation issues, security issues, and broken applications due to backward compatibility problems. A more efficient approach is desirable for managing application and operating system updates in enterprise network environments.